Aeroplane wing design at Airbus in Filton could be under threat as a result of a bad Brexit deal, the company has warned MPs.

Katherine Bennett, the company’s UK senior vice-president, gave assurances in Parliament that Airbus was not looking to relocate out of the country.

But she told MPs on the business committee that competition from China after Brexit could see aeroplane wing design and engineering – both of which happen in Filton – lost to the UK if the British arm of the company cannot remain “competitive” after exiting the European Union.

Airbus employs 4,000 people at its Filton base. The company currently transports parts across its European sites several times a day but customs delays, as a result of being outside of the customs union and single market, could increase costs and threaten jobs, said Ms Bennett on Tuesday, November 21.

Read More

The top UK boss described wing production as the “crown jewels” of the industry and noted that Britain was a world-leader in design.

“My job is about fighting to ensure wing design remains in this country,” she said. “I need to let you know, committee, that other countries would dearly love to design and build wings.

“Some of them already do – we build wings in China now – and, believe you me, they are knocking at the door as a result of the situation we are in in this country.”

Airbus site at Filton in Bristol

Bristol North West MP Darren Jones said it would be a "disaster" for the city if wing production moved elsewhere.

Airbus has set up a Brexit working group across its global offices to look at the problems the firm could face, and Ms Bennett confirmed she speaks “several times a week” with the Government about what is required to support the industry.

In written evidence, the committee was told by experts that Brexit could add £1.5 billion to the aerospace industry’s costs.

Read More

The Airbus chief – which has other major production sites in North Wales as well as France, Germany and the USA – said the UK element of its business would be hard hit by new customs controls.

She added: “Every single thing we export from the UK goes into the EU. We don't export anywhere else, so non-tariff barriers are a really big burden for us.”

However, Ms Bennett said she did not want to be “doom and gloom” and assured there were no plans for the group to exit the UK.

“Airbus is extremely committed to our sites,” she said. “It’s not terribly easy to move a huge manufacturing site.

Katherine Bennett, senior vice president at Airbus UK

“So now, the most important thing for me is future investment. We need to make sure the UK puts a good foot forward and that our sites remain competitive and productive.”

Ms Bennett, who took over the role of vice-president from Paul Khan in the summer, called on the Government to engage in “trade diplomacy” to pave the way for Airbus to export to the Far East and India after Brexit.

“We are a global industry and we need to stay that way,” she continued. “We don’t want to go back to a little island mentality.”

Read More

Any changes to free movement of labour – a right that would be lost if the UK is no longer a member of the single market – would mean it would be more difficult to send apprentices, who currently train in France and Germany as part of their experience, abroad to learn, the industry said.

About 600 of Airbus’ 15,000 UK employees are other EU nationals, while 1,300 of the company’s British employees work on the continent.

Simon Henley, president-elect at the Royal Aeronautical Society, said: “If you go to Bristol Airport, you will be staggered by the amount of people going through to Toulouse and Hamburg with people moving to and fro [in the industry].

“The figures for the full-time employees on either side does not reflect the amount of movement.”

Industry experts said the aerospace sector wants to know by the end of the year what a transitional arrangement with the EU will look like.

Read More

They want a minimum of two years in place, with the current relationship with the EU mirrored exactly.

“The status quo works for us,” said Ms Bennett.

Mr Jones said talks of added costs for Airbus was "worrying news" for one of the city's main employers.

“Airbus UK officials are warning that the Government’s reckless plan to wrench the UK out of the Single Market and the Customs Union could lead to the high-value work of building aircraft wings being moved to China," said the pro-EU Labour MP, who is a leading supporter of anti-Brexit group, Open Britain.

"This work supports thousands of highly-skilled jobs in the South West of England, and losing it would be a disaster for the whole of the UK and for my constituents in Bristol."